Stubborn Hearts - a Draco Malfoy story
by Riddler243
Summary: I have decided that this story will be in 1st person just to have a variety :) Hopefully you will all like this story as well as my Fred Weasley ones too! Thank you for reading and here is chapter 1!
1. Chapter 1

"Amelia? Darling, are you ready?" My mother called softly up the pure white carpet stairs, but I didn't respond. For I was stood gazing up and across the sky, flooded with little puffs of tiny fluffy clouds, drifting lazily by the hot summer sun. I was stood outside on my bedroom balcony, onlooking the garden and across the distant buildings dotted here and there.

Our house was standing proudly in a quieter part of Kensington, and still there were quite a few houses built beside us; quiet houses, with quiet neighbours. Our house was quite big, but it was nothing compared to the manors some of my mother's friends own. They're quite posh, my mother's friends. The majority of them are snobbish, uptight, insanely rich and love themselves (and their family name) far too much.

Although, not all of them are like that (very little of them didn't love themselves as much as I described, they're very full of themselves). Take my mother's best friend for example; Narcissa Malfoy. She's married to a pure-blooded wizard and has one son around my age; Draco Malfoy, of whom I have apparently known for my whole life. I honestly can't recall any of them. Mother says that this is due to my amnesia; I hit my head on the edge of the door when I was seven and knocked most of my memory away. Ironically, I don't remember that either.

She tries ever so hard, bless her. Whenever she talks to Narcissa through letters she shows me them. Sometimes there are questions asking how I was and if I was still going to Hogwarts and blabbed on about how glad she was that Draco and I were going to attend the same school. I apologise, I do remember Narcissa a little, but not fully. I haven't seen them for a long time though, so I hardly remember their faces.

"Amelia?" My mother called again a little louder this time. This snaps me out of my gaze and I instantly rush on inside back into my room, shutting the glass doors to my balcony and locking them with a shimmering golden key before dropping the key onto my cream coloured bedside table.

"Coming, mum!" I said loudly as I hopped and skipped my feet into my shoes, trying not to fall over in the process. I didn't tend to shout. I didn't like it. I was quite a shy, quiet person. I kept to myself and that's how I liked it. Although, I sometimes talk to my mother about whatever is troubling me. Other than that, I just keep silent. Unless I _really_ have to get it out of my system I would write it down in a book that is locked by a charm. I used my mother's wand for that, for I don't have one of my own yet, obviously. She doesn't mind, just as long as I don't set the house on fire. She lets me practise a few spells with her wand and has taught me a good few of the basics to give me a head-start at school.

Quickly, I grabbed my floaty, navy-blue cardigan from my wardrobe and slipped it on whilst I rushed on down the stairs. With that I wore a simple white summer dress that stopped just below the knees, the shoes which I managed to get on in the end were also navy-blue; pump shoes. I liked it simple because I'm a simple girl I suppose. I see girls my age trying to look and act years older than their own age and it makes me cringe sometimes; their faces caked with layers of make-up and clothes which are not suited for our age group. But, if that's what they like, who am I to stop them? Actually, I think I don't have the courage to say anything.

"Come on, dear," My mother chuckled as she scooped her red leather handbag over her shoulder and nudged me forwards toward the fireplace. We were travelling by floo powder you see, one of my favourite ways to travel. I went first, then my mother second. Within seconds, we arrived at one of the busiest streets; Diagon Alley. This wasn't my first time here, my mother often bought supplies here and took me with her occasionally. But every time it still takes my breath away; seeing all the witches and wizards and magical shops made me stare in awe.

From her expensive leather bag, my mother pulled out a rather long list, the majority of it was mine. At least 95% I reckon.

"Right then," She began with a sigh, a cheerful one. "Were shall we begin?" I simply shrugged, too stunned by the fact that _I _was going to learn so much magic at the school I longed to go to ever since I learnt our family was magical (which was from a pretty young age might I add). She chuckled again. "Lets get your robes first." I nodded in agreement with a smile that beamed from my face. Forty-five minutes later I now had my robes, my equipment for classes such as Potions for example, I didn't need an owl because we had one in our family for years. Toffee was his name; due to his toffee coloured feathers. He was quite old, but reliable and loving in the same. I have got everything except from my books and my wand, which my mum had deliberately left until last because she knew how much I loved books and how desperate I was to discover my life long partner in magic. I loved saying what Olivander apparently says to every customer '_The wand chooses the wizard...!'_

I buzzed with excitement as we ventured on to buy my books. We squeezed past through the other families trying to buy books for their own children and collected each and every one and dropped it into the cauldron. I held the handle tightly in my hand, my knuckles almost white in colour. I wouldn't call myself a weakling, but others say that I am quite strong, for a girl. My mother told me not to wander off too far but I just couldn't help it, I absolutely love books! I could read for the whole day and night if I could, but I often lose the battle to tiredness and fall asleep with the book draped over my lap, my hands loosely holding onto it.

I reached out for a book that was a tad higher than my height on an old wooden shelf, it was the last one I needed and there were a good few left. As my fingers were just about to touch the smooth edges of the cover, someone else's pale hand reached for the exact same book, their fingertips brushing over the back of my hand. Instantly, I flinched my hand back closer to me, my cheeks burning a dark crimson red due to my shyness.

I looked up at the boy who was an inch or two taller than I, he too started to retrieve his hand back to his side. His skin was pale and his hair was such a white blonde, I had never seen a natural shade that colour before. It was slicked back with what looked like far too much hair product, keeping it glued securely out of place. And his eyes, they were so piercing, so silver, so blue and grey at the same time. Although, I did try to not allow my laughter to come into reality at a funny feature of his; his eyebrows. They were brown in colour, a complete contrast to his hair. His perfectly-shaped nose twitched as he sniffed, due to a small sprinkled of dust floating through the air around the room.

I couldn't help but stare a little at him which he mirrored toward me. His eyebrows frowned a little, as if saying 'do I know you?'. Just then, I heard both my mother and some other woman's voice call out in a cheerful greeting.

"Jane!"

"Narcissa!" They both smiled hugely, for they haven't seen each other for a long time. They hugged each other briefly and warmly. The pale, pointed face boy turned his head over to his mother's greeting curiously and then returned it back to me but then blinked to find that the spot was now empty. He looked back over at both of our mother's and discovered that I was now shyly hiding behind my mother, clutching onto the book that I needed. He also slid the book out of its place on the dusty shelf and dropped it carelessly into his cauldron, clearly not bothered about caring for his school equipment. The pale-skinned boy swivelled round on the flats of his expensive well-polished ,smart, shining black shoes and strutted freely over to his mother's side. Narcissa placed her hand upon her son's shoulder once he returned, smiling warmly. My mother beamed a smile down at the strange young boy.

"Aw, Draco! You've grown up so much since the last time I saw you! You have a very good looking boy there, Narcissa."

"Takes after his father in the looks department," she replied, stroking Draco's shoulder with her thumb. The two polished-looking friends of my mother could barely see me, only the tips of my blue shoes could be seen. I was terrible at meeting new people. Don't get me wrong, I love making new friends; but I often turn incredibly shy and find it hard to make even a squeak. Even though I couldn't see the two of them, I could feel their eyes staring at the only visible sight of me. It was then I heard a warm question. "Is that little Amelia I see poking out behind you, Jane?"

I blinked, hard. My fingers tightened the grip around my book, sending little pins of pain to snap down them.

"Indeed," I heard my mother say.

"Still incredibly shy, is she?" Narcissa said softly. My mother nodded.

"Come on, Amelia, say hello." she gestured for me to come out of my hiding place with a gentle nudge against my back. I gulped silently and took a shaky breath before bravely stepping forward. I then became visible to them and was greeted with a familiar warm smile by Narcissa. Her hair was so strange; it was half dark brown and half white blonde, it reminded me of a badger. I loved badgers. Maybe I would be placed in Hufflepuff? My family mainly generated of Slytherins, with a dozen or so Ravenclaws and the odd one or two Hufflepuffs. But there were never any Gryffindors. Not even one. I really wanted to be a Ravenclaw, like my mother, I wanted to make her proud of me.

"Well, haven't you gotten more beautiful?" Narcissa awed as she looked down at my young face. Her big brown eyes examined my face like she had never seen me once, even though she had. I didn't want to look at Draco. I was the most shy around boys. I don't know why, but I just am. But I remembered his eyes being far more contrasting to his mothers. "It's been such a long time... four, five years?"

"She has improved though. I've been jotting her memory with photos and there has been some progress. She's knows you I think, Narcissa. She partially remembers Lucius. But not fully Draco I'm afraid." For some strange reason, a flicker of disappointment glazed over Draco's eyes, which soon left as soon as it arrived. "But not to worry, I'm sure she will very soon, hopefully." I drew up enough courage to quickly glance over at the boy. The corner of Draco's mouth curled into a smile as he caught my sheepish look. Quickly, my eyes darted off into another direction. My cheeks burning up like crazy.

"What have you left to get then?" Asked Draco a little cockily, his piercing eyes now planted on my own shy green ones. I paused as I looked up at my mother for some sort of backup, but she was in conversation with Narcissa about how we should all spend time together again during the holidays. My eyes returned back to the pale boy, waiting for an answer. Luckily, Narcissa spoke out loud before I could.

"Right, shall we get you two your wands?" Draco and I nodded as we followed our mothers closely, not wanting to get lost amongst the thickening crowds of the narrow street. Draco walked by my side with a confident stride, his hair not moving at all when he walked whereas mine blew back in gentle bounces as I walked.

"You don't talk much, do you?" Draco said as he watched my every move. I simply shook my head, barely. I heard a slight chuckle emerge from his lips as I wondered why my shyness was so funny to him. "Shame my father couldn't be here, he's got work at the Ministry, you see. But he's _promised_ to take me shopping next year and I can treat myself to whatever I want." He said a little smugly. I didn't want to be rude by not saying anything, so I nodded my head lightly. "I'll definitely be placed in Slytherin and I would be ashamed if I wasn't! Especially not a stupid, pathetic Gryffindor. My father tells me all about this oversized family called the Weasley's, and how they're all in Gryffindor and so poor! Ha! They bring shame to the pure blooded! Don't you think?" He spat the name Weasley like it was the most vile word to be spoken and his nose screwed up at the name. I was sickened by the way he talked about this family. I've met the Weasley's a few times and I thought that they were some of the most kindest people I have ever met. I shook my head in disagreement.

"No." I said firmly in almost a whisper, my disgust clearly shown through how I spoke and my facial expression. I sped up the pace and hopped up to walk with my mother instead of this rude, spoilt boy who's eyes were wide with surprise. His surprise was due to me actually saying something out loud and also how I stuck up for this poor family. Draco was about to respond in a harsh way, like he usually would have, but decided that it was best not to get off on the wrong foot when trying to get your previous best friend to like you once again.

Seconds later, the four of us entered the unusually empty, old, shop which had hundreds of small dusty boxes squeezed into towering shelves. The shelves were crammed with so many little boxes, I had never seen so many before in my entire life.

Suddenly, an old man appeared out of nowhere on a self-wheely ladder from one of the very narrow spaces of the shelves. He had a curious smile as he climbed down back to the ground again, hopping off once he was at a safe height. He waltzed on over to us and gently slapped his hands down on the counter.

"Hello there," he greeted. "I guess that these fine young children are after their first wands?" Draco and I nodded, but Draco crinkled up his nose slightly from his disapproval of how old it was in here, and how the dust just floated right in front of your face annoyingly.

"Yes, we are." He said with attitude. I simply nodded. The old man shifted out from behind the counter and leant down a little to get a closer look at our faces. His old, slanted eyes squinted as he examined our features. This creeped both Draco and I out a little but we remained still. A smile began to grow across his white stubble face and his words were in a gentle lowered tone.

"Such a couple we have here,"

"Excuse me?" Draco asked in a quiet breath, which was quite unusual for someone like him.

"Misunderstandings and confusion along your paths I reckon. But, they will be swerved around by love and compassion." Both Draco and I fell silent, even our mothers were a little confused.

"_Excuse me_?" Draco repeated.

"Protection and jealously," Olivander pointed an old finger down towards Draco and then moved it slowly across to me. "Stubbornness and rejection. Those are the things you will have to wipe away to get to the lighter path ahead." Silence fell between Draco and I, mainly confused silence. But my mother told me that he likes to read things; whether they were wands, or people. Narcissa smiled a little, as if understanding what the old man had just said, as did my mother. "Right then," He clapped his old, dry, wrinkly hands together suddenly, waking the two of us up from our confused daze. "Shall we look at some wands?"


	2. Stubborn Hearts - 2

The day soon came for my departure to Hogwarts, the school I have been longing to go to for years. My mother's eyes were tearful and her pretty face glowed pride. Her sandy blonde hair was neatly pinned back into a loose bun and her very smart grey work clothes fitted perfectly around her figure. Her soft hands gently brushed over my rosy cheeks sadly.

"My little Amelia," she sighed with a small smile, her hand sliding down to rest on my shoulder. "I can't believe that you are off already. Enjoy yourself won't you, dear?"

"I will," I smiled sweetly as my mother kissed the top of my head for a second or two before hugging me one last time before I had to leave.

"I'm going to miss our little hugs and cuddles," she sniffed quietly and reluctantly let go of me so I could board the train. "Bye, Amelia!" She called as she scooped her expensive leather handbag back over her shoulder. I skipped up onto the nearest door that was open and waved warmly back at my mother, who blew a kiss to me before waving goodbye. I smiled happily back at her with a huge wave, showing her that I was alright.

The train whistle screeched loudly. The puffs of smoke began to float out from the chimney as the wheels lazily began to move across the rails, leaving the platform in less than a minute.

The fake confidence I showed quickly sunk to the bottom of my toes, leaking out and away from me, like I was a chalice with a shattered edge. Which was exactly how I felt. Nervously, I started to slowly shuffle down the small corridor, taking a few peeps inside of the compartments to see if there was any seats free. Some other children my age and older returned my look with frowned eyebrows as they watched the baby dear flee from their sight. I didn't know anyone. At all. Well, except for Draco, of whom I still barely know at all and only said one single word to. But there was one other person that I knew; Hermione. I met her whilst on holiday in France. We got on incredibly well and shared a love of reading and studying about mythical creatures and other subjects we may come across at school. We've known each other for a few years now.

So that's who I began to search for. Hoping desperately that there were seats available if I were able to even find her, for a start. One compartment after the other, still no sign of her. It was then (after passing a few more compartments) I spotted that spoilt little boy, Draco. He was sat with four others; two incredibly fat boys who were gulping down inhumane amounts of cake down their throats, another boy with darker skin was carelessly looking out the window and an ugly looking girl with a very short black bob haircut which made her look more like a boy was giggling frantically at something supposedly Draco said. I couldn't help but chuckle at Draco's disgusted face, his nose was screwed up and he attempted to slide away as far as possible from her on the seat they sat together on. The girl noticed my reflection on the window and whipped her head around to confront me. Her small, squinted eyes stared harshly at me as she puffed out her chubby chest.

"What are _you _staring at?!" She spat, literally. Little bits of spit flung out of her mouth as she shouted the compartment down. Draco's eyes shot up to the person Pansy shouted at and blinked to see the sight of me standing their with shocked, widened eyes. "_Well?!_"

I couldn't help but slightly snigger at how screwed up and piggish her face looked. Her short stubby nose was the shortest I had ever seen and her nostrils flared larger than a humongous dragon's. I had to escape before I got myself into trouble and make a scene so I decided to walk away, stealing another glance at the boy I supposedly have known for my entire life. He too was trying not to laugh. He caught my gaze and smiled secretly, twitching a sneaky wink towards me as if that was him saying hello. This instantly made me blush a dark red which was painted thickly all over my cheeks. I had to admit, he had a pretty adorable smile.

I returned to my previous quest on finding the whereabouts of my unfindable friend, Hermione. But my luck soon sprung out into the air around me as I very quickly discovered a bushy haired girl sat with two other boys; one with dark hair and round glasses and the other with bright red hair and freckles, I already knew Ron too. Ron was the first to notice me approaching and slid the door open once placing Scabbers into one of his jacket pockets, his mouth half full with sweets.

"Alright, Amelia?" he greeted with a smile. I liked Ron, he was often the one who got picked on a lot in his family, mainly by Fred and George, the mischievous twins who liked to prank him as often as they could. Hermione looked up and beamed, shoving in the ribbon book mark in her book before shutting it hard, creating a loud bang to sound.

"Mia! So good to see you!" She noticed me and Harry looking curiously at one another with small smiles as I took a seat next to Hermione. "Oh, sorry. Amelia, this is Harry Potter. Harry, this is Amelia Littlewood."

"Nice to meet you," Harry said kindly, holding out his hand.

"You too." I replied quietly but less shyly for a strange reason as I reached across to shake his hand. The four of us chatted away for the rest of the journey. Well, mainly Ron, Harry. But Hermione and I contributed to the conversation now and then.

After a long while the train began to draw to a screeching halt, the whistle blowing loudly to indicate the arrival.

"Oh, we're here!" Hermione said excitedly and Ron quickly ate the last of the remaining sweets he had stuffed in one of his pockets. Everyone was bustling about to get off the train, especially the first years. I couldn't stop my huge grin from showing, it shone from ear to ear from how excited I was.

I couldn't believe how quickly we got to the castle, my mind must have been switched off into a dreamy daze, drawing out my future on the blank sketch pad that I can easily change. We all waited excitedly outside the huge doors to the Great Hall where we will be soon sorted into our houses.

"What house do you think you will be in, Harry?" gushed Ron to his new friend. Harry chuckled and shrugged.

"I honestly don't know Ron. I only found out that I was a wizard a short while ago!"

"Oh yeah, true. Sorry," Ron mumbled a little, his freckly cheeks turning red from embarrassment. "H-how about you, Amelia? What house do you want to be in?" Ron asked, smiling. I also shrugged with a thoughtful smile.

"I don't know either, Ronald-"

"Can you call me Ron? Please? It's just that my mum calls me Ronald, a lot. And I prefer Ron. It's less embarrassing..." Ron interrupted with a hopeful plea, not wanting his name to be fully pronounced; he found it ridiculous and embarrassing and tried to reduce it to be more suited to him. I smiled and nodded my head lightly, agreeing to his only term of our friendship.

"Sure, ok." My smile increased slightly as I returned back to our previous conversation. "I'm not entirely sure what house I'll be put in. My mother says that I have qualities of all of the houses. She says that I'm kind; like a Hufflepuff. That I am quite sly and pure, for Slytherin. Plus that was supposedly the house my father was placed in, she doesn't like to talk of him much. She says that I am incredibly smart, although I don't know how!" The four of us share a giggle, smiling as we discussed. "And that I'm loyal."

"Are you brave? Isn't that a quality of Gryffindor? Ron?" Harry asked in an unsure tone, turning to Ron to see if his statement was correct. Ron yawned and nodded at the same time. I shook my head.

"I don't think that I am, but who knows what will come through the years?!"

"I don't see why you talk to them, Amelia." The chubby pig girl said to you through her teeth, her hands placed on her hips as she spoke. The four of us turned to face her with a look of irritation spread evenly amongst us. Hermione was the first to speak up, and the rest of the crowd followed to listen in, hoping that there would be some sort of fight; even though it was very unlikely. Hermione casually shook her long bushy hair behind her shoulders with a few shakes of her head, her chin raised and her eyebrows rose.

"I don't see why you have changed your tone all of a sudden, Pansy. Were you not angered by her presence not a few hours ago? Not even that I think." Her voice leaked intelligence, making Pansy's look like a small droplet drying up in the sun very quickly. Pansy's eyes squinted. She could see Draco standing nearby from the corner of her eye and rolled a piece of her greasy hair behind her sticky-out ears, revealing her round chubby face.

"No one asked for your opinion, _Granger!_" she spat, trying to impress Draco by putting others down below her, despite her shortness in height. "She just caught me at a bad moment, that's all."

"Pansy," sighed the pale skinned boy that this girl absolutely loved. He took a few small steps forward so that he was next to her, his hair one of the main things that also fascinated Pansy. A horrid, cringe-worthy smile oozed all over her as she sighed heavily, dragging it out to show everyone that he is all hers, every little piece of him. He didn't respond to her childish behaviour; which was rich coming from him because he is also very childish himself. "Leave it."

"What's changed your tune then?" Asked Ron bravely. But he soon regretted speaking out, for Draco's eyes flicked right over to face the lower class redhead, scowling harshly.

"If I wanted an opinion from a filthy peasant, _Weasley_, then I'll know who to go to. But I wouldn't anyway; I wouldn't want to catch anything; like the plague." Draco's gang all burst out laughing at his 'hilarious' comment. Small bits of cake fell out of Crabbe and Goyle's mouth, the small crumbs being spat out into the air as they wheezed laughter. Pansy giggled like a five year old; over dramatic and far too loud. Ron dashed forward to lash out at Malfoy, his fist scrunched up into a tight ball and raised high in the air, ready to attack. But Harry and I quickly held him back by grabbing an arm each, holding him securely so that we could restrict him from doing anything that he might regret; we didn't want him leaving school before it had even started. Draco's eyes connected with mine, piercing them with the sharp ice frozen over inside.

"Why even bother, Amelia?" He asked in a softer voice, clearly showing more kind of a 'friendly' manner towards me than the others. I simply frowned; which he didn't like at all. "We all know what's the best choice to make," He began to walk towards me, slowly. A small smirk started to grow across his soft, rosy lips of his; which added to both his good and bad side to him, although, I wasn't fully convinced that he was my friend.

"Leave it, Malfoy." Harry growled a little, not taking a liking to Draco at all.

"Shut it, _Potter_." Draco sneered as he glared at the scar, not looking at Harry's face properly. He then looked back towards me, holding out his hand. "I can help you choose, if you'll just accept my offer." I blinked and stared at the pale hand held out towards me, waiting patiently in mid-air. My eyes slowly followed the trail of his arm, shoulder, neck and then meeting his face once again. Even though my words were a little quiet, I managed to make them clear and audible.

"I can choose my own friends thanks, Malfoy." I could see the flash of shock flicker in those pale eyes of his, taking a disliking of me calling him by his surname and not his forename. Before he could even answer, the doors creaked open and allowed the warm bright lights of the candles to slowly fall through, like the oceans waves washed into the large open space of the stairs we all stood on. Everyone around us lost interest in the argument between our contrasting groups and gazed into the growing gaps of the doors opening, hoping to be the first to see what secrets it held inside, desperately wanting to witness their first sight of magic.

Harry and I let go of Ron's arms and also lost interest in Malfoy, who was still dumbfounded by discovering that I actually was able to speak more than one word. He didn't appreciate the embarrassment I had caused him, or the fact that I had also denied him, rejecting his offer to take his side and betray the friends I had made.

All of the students began to pile into the breath-taking hall that seemed to have no ceiling at all! I awed at the floating glowing candles that warmly welcomed us with their flickering gentle glow.

"I've read about those," Hermione began, sounding like her usual bragging smart self. "They've put a spell on them so they float. And the ceiling is still there, it just looks like there isn't."

"I think it's brilliant!" Both Harry and I breathed in awe, gazing up the most amazing sight floating high above us. We exchanged looks of excitement that could not be shredded by the sharpest of swords or blade; too thick to be crushed by the horrid words or personalities of others. The whole bunch of us quickly descended down the path between the very long house tables, which I think were Hufflepuff to my left and Gryffindor to my right. Although I wasn't too sure, I only caught a glimpse of their ties.

I almost fully bumped into a boy in front of me with messy, sandy brown hair and a face full of cheekiness and freckles. Accidentally, I trod on the back of his black coal coloured school shoes lightly and quickly flinched away an inch or two; my cheeks burning up like crazy again to my embarrassment.

"Oh, I'm sorry!"

"It's alright!" Said the boy cheerfully, his smile just heavily adding to his cheeky feature. "I'm Seamus, Seamus Finnigan!"

"A-Amelia... Amelia Littlewood." I responded shyly with a small smile, unable to fully look him in the eye due to my shyness. I hated how incredibly shy I was.

"You're a little shy one, aren't ya?" Laughed the boy, smiling brightly. I managed to gather enough scraps of courage in my hand to look him in the eye, gradually. I returned his kind smile, hoping that he wasn't offended by me not looking at him properly. He laughed again. "Don't worry, I won't bite!" This managed to sneakily emerge a little giggle from me; but it also added to my dreadfully embarrassing blush. I'm glad that I have added another friend to my very empty diary inside of my mind; I'm glad that I am starting to converse with others that I'm usually too afraid to confront and say hello to.

My mind fell blank after a while, deafened and fully blinded by my own thoughts about imagination. I couldn't hear the loud words of Professor McGonagall calling out the names of the first years to be placed into their houses; it was just muffles and mumbles, blurs and colours.

I think that Professor McGonagall just gave up on me because I was daydreaming too deeply, earning quiet sniggers of laughter from other students. Nearing the end of the list, I snapped out of my daydream and heard the stern voice of the old woman. She looked down at me with those old yet gentle eyes of hers, smiling a stern yet amused smile as she spoke.

"Would you like to be sorted now, Miss Littlewood? Or would you like a few more minutes to continue your story inside your head?" I shook my head and quickly scurried over to sit at the old wooden stool. Nervously, I sat down with my hands clamped firmly down onto the edges of the stool. I could see my friends eyes focused on me, as were everyone else's in the hall. Even Draco seemed to wait impatiently to discover what house I will be in. I didn't know it but Draco eagerly wanted me to be in Slytherin for some reason, maybe to rekindle our friendship to where it supposedly was before I forgot all about him, maybe?

"AHA!" The old leather hat bellowed, causing me to jump badly and almost fall off of the stool. Luckily my hands were clamped securely onto the sides so I didn't completely fall off. I swallowed the large dry lump that was forming in the back of my throat as I could hear the quiet mumbles of whisper from the hat as it started to examine me, even though I was shaking like a leaf in the harsh winter wind. "Interesting... very interesting. Such a past your family has... yes..."

I remained silent.

"But which house to pick for such a troubled child? Hmmm... Slytherin, maybe?"

"Sod that!" Ron whispered loudly to Harry, who was sat beside him at the Gryffindor table and across Hermione and the boy I met a few minutes ago, Seamus.

"Ravenclaw, perhaps?"

"She is very smart," Hermione nodded lightly as she whispered across the table to Harry and Ron.

"And that's coming from _her_!" Ron whispered quietly so Harry could only hear. Harry tried to prevent himself from laughing and was starting to fail, so he quickly changed his focus back onto me, the nervous little girl sat on the stool which felt like a hundred feet from the ground.

"AHA! I have it now, yes..." The hat dragged it out into a slow croak of words before bellowing out the house I was now going to be in for the next seven years. "Better be... GRYFFINDOR!"

My face fell a little as the cheers began to howl through the large hall. Gryffindor?! '_I can't be in Gryffindor!'_I thought to myself in a panicky way. '_There hasn't been one single Gryffindor in my entire family! Not ONE! Oh God, mother will be so ashamed of me! Why me?! Why must I be the one to bring shame to the family?!'_Although I was absolutely fully ashamed with myself, I was glad to be in the same house as my friends. But as I hopped off of the stool I didn't even bother to look at the boy on the Slytherin table. Draco's face was utterly shocked. Distraught even. Even he expected me to be placed in either Slytherin or Ravenclaw due to my family. He knew a lot about my family, and the generations of the houses they were placed in. He also knew that not a single one of my family had EVER been in Gryffindor.

He only clapped a few times due to his shock and disappointment and Pansy noticed.

"Don't worry Drakey, you don't need a friend like _her_. You have me!" Pansy said reassuringly.

"Don't call me that! Only Mia calls me that." Draco snapped suddenly, frowning like a young child would if he had just lost his favourite toy. Pansy flinched with a sharp squeak to accompany it.

"What, Drakey?"

"No, Drake. When we were younger, she used to call me that."

"You two KNEW each other?!" Pansy shouted with a gaped mouth the size of a black hole. Draco rolled his eyes and huffed in annoyance.

"For God's sake, Pansy. You already knew that." All four tables were suddenly filled with mouth watering, delicious food that appeared out of nowhere, speaking and calling out to you to take a bite of everything. Draco began to pile on food onto his plate by the handful, getting a good piece of everything. It was hard to believe that he was as thin as he was; because he eats so much at every meal. Although, at breakfast he tends not to eat much. Draco viciously bit into a roast chicken leg and tore off the meat angrily as he glared towards the Gryffindor table where you were sat with the famous first year and others who weren't as pure as his family. I felt so comfortable now that I had completely forgot about my family history. I was actually quite glad to be different to them; that way I could see why I was placed in this house. There must be a reason behind it, and I planned to find out.


	3. Stubborn Hearts - 3

I couldn't wait to start school in the morning and neither could Hermione. We both got up extra early in the morning to get ready for our first lesson. Unbelievably, we had every single lesson together and I was very glad. I hoped that it would remain that way all through Hogwarts. She had set off her alarm clock quite early in the morning, but I didn't mind at all.

I was very groggy when I first awoke but after a few shoves and pushes from my best friend, I managed to get up out of my cosy scarlet red bed. It was only the two of us in our dormitory; it was smaller than the others but we didn't mind because then no one would annoy us or bother us too much.

"Come one, Amelia!" Hermione smiled, almost giggling. "We could squeeze in a little studying before class if we get down to breakfast now!"

"Almost ready!" I said whilst jumping into my shoes. I hopped around on one foot as I tried to fit in the other in my new school shoes. I guess this was a habit of mine; not being able to put my shoes on quickly, or keeping my balance. After a tumble or two, I managed to slip them on properly. I clicked my heels together with a bubbly smile. "Ready!"

"Good, good!" Hermione smiled as she scooped up her bag and flopped her books neatly inside before brushing her comb through her bushy brown hair once more to make her look more neat and tidy. She then turned towards me and indicated with a wave of her hand that we were now leaving. I followed the eager smart girl out of our dormitory door while I quickly grabbed onto the handle of my school bag also filled with books and the equipment I would need for the entire day.

We skipped down the stairs and spiralled around the chairs and sofas that already had a couple of students from different years; some in their pyjamas still and some in their robes. We descended out of the common as normally as we could, trying to not look like total nerds as we desperately wanted class to come sooner. But as we were about to turn the second to last corner to the great hall we bumped into someone; Draco. Hermione frowned a little at his presence, watching him prance down the corridor like he owned everything in the whole world. On either side of him was his two towering, fat friends Crabbe and Goyle, who were still stuffing their faces with fatty foods. Draco noticed Hermione and I walking nearby to Hermione's dismay.

"Oh, joy." she exhaled heavily. "Look who's strutting their stuff. Malfoy." But to her surprise, Draco didn't even come over to take the mickey out of Hermione. Instead, he simply smiled towards me kindly, sweetly even. I blinked as I felt my cheeks burn into a roar of red flame, swarming my previous colour with a darker shade of red as I smiled a small smile back towards him. He didn't look away for a few seconds, which made me blush even more. I knew that he was doing this on purpose; he knew how shy I was and how easy it was to make me blush like a crazy red tomato. My eyes widened as I tried to raise my voice so I could be heard.

"Drake, watch out for that-"

BASH!

Draco had walked straight into a statue of a griffin in the corridor, one of many. The bash made him stumble backwards on his heels and landed right onto Crabbe and Goyle, sending them and their food flying to the ground. I gasped as I watched them tumble, but I also tried not to laugh at how funny this looked. Other students were beginning to emerge and some had also witnessed Draco's idiotic collision with the statue. Hermione quickly shooed us away from the incident, not wanting us to get involved any further. We quickly scurried away at a fast pace down the rest of the corridor to get to the Great Hall. Hermione then began to question me.

"Amelia, why did you call Malfoy 'Drake'?" I paused in thought, the rusty clogs in my started to turn lazily as I blinked. A few long seconds passed before I even said something in reply.

"I... I have no idea. It just came to me; like a zap."

"Zap?" She asked with a slight tilt of the head, curious and confused. I nodded confusingly.

"I'm not entirely sure... but, I just remembered that I called him that once before."

Later on, Harry and a very tired looking Ron walked into the hall and took the empty seats opposite Hermione and I. Ron frowned with a very heavy and loud yawn.

"Why are you two studying this early?"

"Honestly Ronald," Sighed Hermione, earning an ungrateful scowl from Ron. "I don't see why you don't start, you'll definitely need it."

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Hey, have you guys seen Malfoy's face?" Harry said quickly, in case a fight was about to begin. I instantly looked up at the mention of that boy's surname, leaving mid-sentence from my book about spells for beginners, just to revise.

"What about him?" I asked curiously. Ron sniggered as he looked at the familiar pale face.

"Take a look for yourself," He nodded in the direction Malfoy was and tried desperately not to laugh at the huge purple bruise that was smudged all over his once perfect nose; which now looked like a baby sized aubergine. Malfoy's head was lowered to a point were his eyes seemed like fierce, deadly dragon eyes that could send fear trembling down your very spines and could kill you on the spots you currently stand on. Several students sniggered below their breath when they caught a sight of this miserable face. Some earned themselves a full on death glare and others just got ignored. But not Ron. He let Malfoy know how hilarious this was by bellowing out his laughter, pointing his fork over at the boy.

"You think that it's funny do you, Weasley?!" spat Malfoy, glaring towards the redhead. Ron quickly withdrew himself before he went a step too far. His fork automatically shovelled a large piece of sausage right into his mouth, along with a coating of ketchup to keep his mouth busy. I couldn't help but feel sorry for Draco, but I also couldn't help but laugh at the change in his facial presentation. It would heal, but his pride was shattered. "Yeah, you'd better keep that trap of yours shut, _Weasley_!"

The whole day continued of Draco having the mickey taken out of him; even from some from his own house. But very few of them were first years, due to their fear of Draco bullying them for the rest of their time at Hogwarts.

But, later on in the week, his worries were over. For his nose had fully healed and was back to its previous perfect state. It was now the last lesson of the day: Potions. Luckily for Draco, if anyone even said one thing out of line to him, Snape would instantly deduct points from their house as quickly as you breathe your next short breath.

I was sat on a table with Hermione with our books piled up neatly; some on the desk (ones which were needed) and the others near our bags (due to the lack of space). Unfortunately though, we had to sit amongst the Slytherins. Which neither Hermione or the Slytherins enjoyed. I didn't particularly enjoy it either, the reason being is that we also have that ridiculous, giggly, boisterous girl; Pansy Parkinson nearby too. Accompanying them were the unbelievably fat 'boys' Crabbe and Goyle, who were drooling at the thought that it was only a couple of hours until supper time – but they had some food in their bags, which they sneakily took bites of every now and then. Even if Snape saw he wouldn't say anything, because they were in Slytherin, you see. And everyone knows that Snape favours the Slytherins, for he is the head of them.

On my left was Hermione; and on my right – Draco. I could see Ron and Harry giving us sympathetic looks throughout the lesson, feeling sorry for us that we would have to put up with them for the rest of the year. Or possible even the rest of our time at Hogwarts, that's if we decide to continue Potions and whether or not Snape will change the seating arrangements.

The lesson was dragging. Hugely. Even Hermione had begun to grow bored from the slow pace this man seems to like to teach at. Her notebook was filled with neat scribbles of notes from what he had said – at least a few pages worth. I noticed within minutes that Draco was copying some parts of my work, he wasn't very good at hiding it. Or it may be a possibility that he was doing this on purpose to get me to talk to him in some way. I thought that this was incredibly immature but allowed this to continue. Like I said before, I'm too shy to confront people like him. Especially the 'Slytherin Prince'. That is a nickname Pansy had given him. Well, half Pansy; the other girls in Slytherin also contributed to Draco's new nickname. There was no way in the darkest point in hell I was going to call him that knowingly, and there was no way I was ever going to be forced to say it either.

Hermione agreed with me that it was ridiculous; although she couldn't care less about the spoilt Slytherins who always think higher of themselves, as if they were royals – which they're clearly not.

As long as us two girls had a good book to read from, one with hundreds of pages (not like those small books that Ron likes to read; seeing that he doesn't like to study, at all) we would be absolutely fine. Normally. But this situation was different.

I often don't judge people by the label others had stuck them with, but the fact that Draco always had his thin, pale, pointed nose high in the air all the time... I did see the label clearly. He always acted like he owned every inch of land his feet tread on; that every breath of air was his and no one else could have any. I hated the way he treated others like filth; those who were poorer than he was or wasn't as pure as his family's bloodline. It sickened me sometimes; as it did Hermione. I was glad that I had a friend that agreed with me on almost everything I say. Unlike Ron, bless him, who is always corrected by Hermione.

Snape's words seemed to drain out from his boring mouth more slowly than a slug trailing vertically up a brick wall on a cold winter night; and that was a polite way of putting it. His long greasy black hair covered most of his face but when he was angered by a student, he would instantly whip it back to glare fully down at the victim.

Which, unfortunately, was me.

"Miss Littlewood!" He spat in an angered tone, which was dangerously slow. My eyes quickly dashed over to meet his dark, almost black, bug eyes which was glazed with clear irritation. Slowly, he took each one of his steps very slowly, as if purposely making me fear the closing gap between us.

"Y-yes, sir?" I whispered in a feeble stutter. This man terrified me. A long, stretched pause haunted the air around the crowded, dull room, everyone's eyes fixed upon me. Snape swished his long drapes of his robes behind his feet as he halted, removing his hands (which were covered by the contrasting snow white cuffs of his shirt beneath the robes) and connecting his fingers together in a gentle knot, held against his stomach in a smart, educated way. The still silence was poisoning. It drained the life out of every soul in the dingy classroom. Well, except for the Slytherins. They absolutely loved it when Snape has a go at a Gryffindor; especially a shy, quiet, emotional thing like me.

"Please don't copy notes off Mr Malfoy, it doesn't help you learn."

My mouth fell open a little, as did Hermione's.

"But, sir-" Hermione protested in my defence.

"But, nothing!" Snape interrupted rudely, his plain face refusing to look at the bushy haired girl. "Both Miss Littlewood and Mr Malfoy have got the exact same notes, word for word, in front of them. Therefore, Miss Littlewood must have copied."

Low noises came from the group of Slytherins in one area, sniggering at me.

"So, detention, Littlewood."

"That's so unfair, sir!" Hermione squeaked in shock, speaking louder than she should have.

"Miss Granger, if you don't settle down then you will also receive detention! Do I make myself clear?!" Professor Snape spat harshly down at the pouting girl. Being the pathetic, emotional little girl that I am, my eyes began to well up with tears. It wasn't as visible to those sat further away, but those sat near me could see. Even Draco could see. I expected him to sneer and laugh meanly at my clear innocence to the situation. But, to my surprise; the selfish, spoilt brat actually raised his hand, reluctantly of course.

"Sir," The pale skinned boy mumbled below his breath, staring down at his note-filled book, thanks to me writing them in my own previously. He swallowed the guilt-filled lump in his throat as Professor Snape flipped back around to blankly see what his favourite student had to say.

"What is it, Malfoy?"

"Well, er... Amelia didn't copy my notes..."

"Oh?" Snape said in an irritated tone. He knew that Draco had copied all along, but wanted to deduct points from Gryffindor and had to find an excuse to do so. But now he couldn't. Snape gritted his slightly off coloured teeth together inside of his mouth and scowled shamefully down at the young, pale face that refused to look up at the Professor. "Very well then, you both shall receive detention."

Hermione's eyes shot back up to the horrid man with a face like raging thunder. But, she decided that it was best not to speak aloud this time, even though what he had said was completely unfair.


	4. Stubborn Hearts - 4

Such joy I felt flow through my veins at the thought of having detention with Malfoy. I couldn't believe it! I hadn't done anything wrong and ended up with detention for something that _he _did! It was so unfair!

Unfortunately, I had to help Hagrid out in the Forbidden forest. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Hagrid, he's one of the most kind out of the staff; but I am terrified of the forest.

Obviously I didn't want to go to detention but was forced to by that annoying caretaker and his cat. The night of my detention was freezing cold, therefore I had to retreat to my chest of drawers in my dormitory and retrieve a warm scarlet and gold scarf (a Gryffindor scarf of course) that was far too long for any student. You had to wrap it around your neck a couple of times just to prevent it from draping across the floor.

I sighed heavily in a normal way and reluctantly trudged down the girl's dormitory stairs and came to a puzzled halt as I also saw my three good friends also in warm clothing, ready to go outside.

"Hermione? Ron? Harry? Where are you going?" I asked in a mouse quiet voice. I was comfortable around these three but still had my trouble with overcoming my shyness, which all three of them thought that it was a sweet feature of me.

Ron's face was more grumpy than an ugly troll living lonesomely under the darkest of bridges, and Harry had a less angered face, but the comparisons were little.

"We got bloody detention!" Mumbled Ron. Harry could see that I wanted to ask a question and decided to answer it before I gathered up the crumbs of loudness.

"Malfoy. He snitched on us being at Hagrid's."

"Just because _he _got detention it makes him think that _we _needed it too!" Ron grumbled loudly; a little too loudly.

"Hush Ronald!" Hermione whispered loudly. "You do realise that the other students are trying to sleep!"

Ron frowned and fell silent.

"Good." said Hermione. "We all best be off then."

The three of us nodded lightly and followed after Hermione who seemed to lead the way, as if she were a prefect guiding first years to their common rooms. The sound of Ron's feet stomping down on the ground was irritating and Hermione showed it by scowling towards him, which made him stop after a while.

Gradually, we were met by Filch and his glowing, warm looking lantern; and alongside him – Draco. He too had a long scarf draped around his neck but was his house colours obviously. Slytherin; a house which the three others hate.

"You kids are going to enjoy yourself in that forest. Ohhh, aren't we looking forward to that?" He drawled out his question which didn't need answering. Actually, I don't think that he wanted us to reply anyway. Draco's pale eyes shot up from the shadowy grass up to the filthy caretaker, filled with disgust and large quantities of fear and worry.

"The forest?!" He shouted. Filch smirked. "You can't send us in there alone!"

"You'll be with Hagrid ya stupid boy!" Sneered Filch, not bothering to look down at the posh boy. Just as Filch said, Hagrid was there by his hut with his slobbery dog Fang drooling onto its paws beside his owner. Hagrid was patiently waiting for us with some sort of crossbow held in his enormous hands. Unlike Filch, he greeted us five with a smile.

"All yours 'agrid." Said Filch before turning away and walking back up to the towering castle at the top of the slope. It seemed to get darker by the second the longer we stood outside, on the edge of the scary forest.

"Right then," Hagrid coughed as he patted down his bushy beard; which seemed even bushier than Hermione's hair believe it or not! "Off we go!" The five of us gulped silently as we hesitantly followed Hagrid into the dark, spooky, dangerously quiet forest where the trees watched us silently.

We walked on deeper and deeper into the forest, the dry leaves crumbling beneath or feet, the small sticks echoing loudly into the air as they cracked like a human spine. Hermione and I shivered a little every time we heard that spine chilling sound, especially when a wolf's howl faintly sounded through the forest.

"I-I've read about werewolves..." Hermione whispered shakily, her eyes dashing about wearily. But she failed to continue, due to how cold this bitter night was and how frightened she was.

"Right," Hagrid said a little too loudly, causing a few of us to jump a few inches off the ground. "Sorry 'bout that. Anyway, we'll be splitting up in search of the unicorn I tolds you lot about them few days ago. So Ron, Hermione, you're with me. Harry, you're going to be with Amelia and Malfoy."

Harry's eyes certainty knew how to react, muddled. I could see that he hated the idea of having to be around Draco, but also was glad to have me there too.

"Fine, then we get Fang!" Draco demanded.

"Fine, but he's a bloody coward." Hagrid said as he looked down at the drooly dog. Fang whined as his head drooped down a little, as if ashamed of being so cowardly. Draco's smugness faded as he watched the wrinkly faced dog. Hagrid handed Harry a lantern for us to see and parted with Ron and Hermione in another direction. I watched them go, as did Harry. Ron and Hermione gave us an apologetic look each and Ron shrugged his shoulders, telling us that he didn't know what was going to happen.

Pure silence fell as heavily as a rock tumbling down from a cliff; and we could feel it eating up inside of us slowly.

"Right, Potter, let's get this straight. I _don't _answer to a stupid scar-head, I _don't _follow your opinions and I _DON'T _CARE about anything that you say or do? Alright?!" Spat Malfoy, all up in Harry's face as if trying to 'impress' me by being horrid to one of my friends. Harry scowled as he replied, his words full of hatred for this sunshine haired boy.

"Look, _Malfoy_, I really don't care what you do for I..."

Harry's voice began to get quieter and quieter to me as I walked away with Fang by my side, who seemed to be happier in my company. I really got fed up with all their fighting. I didn't care if Fang was a coward, I knew that we could protect each other; I was quite cowardly too sometimes. I still don't know why I was placed in Gryffindor; they're supposed to brave! I heard Fang whimper slightly beside me as his drool leaked out from his wrinkly mouth in a thick slobber. It was disgusting, but sweet at the same time.

"Don't worry Fang," I whispered down to him as I scratched him behind the ear reassuringly.

I couldn't hear Harry or Draco quarrelling with each other anymore thankfully. I can't stand it when people fight. All I could hear was the faint whisper of the cold, icy wind and the gentle hoot of a sleepy owl hidden high above the tallest of trees, safe and sound from any dangers below. The dark, black trees were naked of any leaves, except the one or two which only had less than a few on each thick branch. They blocked out most of the sky, the trees. They stood there mockingly, showing off their superior height to those smaller than them; puny and weak. The shadows worsened the nightmare effect they had on my mind. I examined each and every one of them that stood with its roots slithered deep inside of the soil near me. My hand lightly brushed against its rough, cracked bark whilst Fang had a good sniff at the bark nearer to his height.

I continued to aimlessly take each and every step as fast as a snail, not wanting to miss a single detail these magnificent trees had to offer. That's another thing about me; I try to look at the brighter things in life, whether it worked or not.

Suddenly, a large swarm of crows swooped down over my head out of no where, calling out to those in front with their frightening squawk. I squeaked loudly to myself and shielded my head with my crossed-over arms, protecting myself from any possible harm that could occur. Fang retreated behind me, also frightened. As quickly as those dull, soot black birds arrived, they swiftly left into the small open gaps of the trees branches high above, disappearing almost immediately.

It was then, the corner of my eye spotted a small silver pool of liquid to roll down over the tree roots that shadowed over it, glistening and shining its beautiful contrast over the darkness surrounding it.

Curiosity got the better of me and my feet began to automatically glide over closer to this strange yet beautiful liquid. Fang seemed to catch my drift and started to shakily follow me paw by paw, frightened of what may lay around the other side of this huge, thick-trunk tree.

To my horror, I saw what must have been the most beautiful and pure creatures to ever roam this entire world; a unicorn. A beautiful silver white unicorn was dead on its side with its elegantly shining silver strands of star-like hair sprawled out beneath its head. Its once life loving eyes were wide open, revealing its struggle when introduced to the play of death.

And there upon it was a pitch black cloaked figure, vulgarly sucking out the blood of the unicorn's body, drinking out its purity and elegance for its own gain. Foolishly, I gasped very loudly, bringing the attention of the cloaked figure to me, who bared its blood painted teeth at me with a growl that sent me into a frozen stance. Fear shook me.

My light green eyes widened and stared down at this horrid cloaked figure who struggled to get onto their feet without some sort of stumble or tilt to the side. Once it managed to get to its feet, it simply stood there with blood dribbling down the corners of its mouth, glistening in the few rays of bright moonlight. I could still hear its low growl of the throat as it harshly breathed heavily. He was weak. Very weak.

The cloaked figure then outstretched its bony thin hand, as if beckoning me to come forward. I wasn't stupid; of course I didn't go to this complete monstrous stranger. I did what any other person would do in this situation and back away as much as my feet would allow me; which was hardly a measly inch.

But suddenly, Fang, the slobbery dog jumped up and out in front of me, his paws glued firmly onto the soil to stand his ground. Fang barked noisily, and it was so loud that I had to cover my ears with my hands to protect my eardrums from bursting. His bark rumbled through the dark night, bouncing back and forth between the trees one by one. Fang howled loudly, mixed in with a viscous growl to bare its own long teeth which made him more frightening than he actually was.

Both I and the cloaked figure jumped from this boisterous growl; loud and threatening. I heard Hagrid shout my name worriedly in the distance. Hermione also shouted out my name worriedly too, hoping that I wasn't hurt or harmed by anything or any creature that could possibly live in this dark place, filled with unexpected paths and routes.

Fang tried to lash out on this creature but it floated into retreat from the barking dog and quickly fled into the mist of the shadows, out of sight and view. Gone, completely.

"Amelia!" Hagrid huffed and puffed as he tried to run to where I was, running out of breath. Following him were Hermione, Ron, Harry and Draco, who all looked as worried as each other.

"Amelia, are you alright?!" Gushed Hermione as she rushed over to my side. Surprisingly, I was. I wasn't too shook up or afraid. And to show this, I nodded. Fang's tongue was drooped out of one side of its mouth as he panted. He padded over to me and I gave him a thankful kiss on the head and another good scratch behind the ear, which he enjoyed and knew that I was thankful for his bravery.

"Well, looks like I got ya all bloody wrong now, didn't I Fang?" Hagrid chuckled. Fang grunted and returned to his owner, flopping his behind down to have a short rest before setting off again.


	5. Stubborn Hearts - 5

Hagrid told us five to stay put together whilst he examined the tragic death of the unicorn along with Fang who normally padded beside his huge owner. Ron continuously asked me questions about the creature I saw and why it wouldn't of attacked me instantly like creatures as freaky as that usually do.

"But why wouldn't it have attacked you? I mean, it was hungry, wasn't it? So it could have attacked you too, as extra!" He breathed confusingly. I simply shrugged in response, I wasn't particularly up for discussing the reality nightmare I had sighted minutes ago.

"Ron, I don't think you're helping." Harry chuckled slightly which also made me smile a little, but it angered Draco hugely.

"You think that this is funny do you, Potter?!" He spat, his pale eyes flashing with rage.

"Calm down, Malfoy!" Harry said, his glasses shielding the clear annoyance he had with Draco's behaviour.

"She could have been hurt!"

"I know that but she hasn't and she's fine!" Harry shouted a little.

"What's all this 'bout then?" Hagrid huffed as he returned to us five little first years, ending the brief argument between Harry and Draco. Harry looked up at Hagrid and then back towards Draco, who was eye level with him and frowned slightly.

"Nothing, Hagrid."

"Oh. Right then, best be off now, eh? Don't want ya staying out too late now." We all nodded and followed close by Hagrid, not wanting to be separated from the group. Even though it was very unlikely to happen, we were all wary of any monsters or creatures sneaking up on us and often looked around a few times to guarantee our safety. Harry and Ron were on Hagrid's left side and Hermione, Draco and I were near his right, just a step or two behind him. I walked between a slightly frightened Hermione and a cocky yet secretly scared Draco, who strutted his walk like he usually does everyday.

"Are you sure that you're alright, Amelia?" Draco whispered near my ear, so no one else can hear him other than me. I blinked and turned my eyes to face him, which didn't last long because after a short seconds of meeting his eyes I quickly looked away. I couldn't speak. So I resulted to my most common solution, simply nod and look in a different direction.

"For goodness sake Amelia. Why can't you talk to me? You can talk to Hermione easily and you've only known her for a few years whereas you have known me all of your life!" Draco asked a little louder with a hint of irritation.

"Leave her be, Malfoy. She doesn't have to talk if she doesn't want to." Hermione said in her normal critical voice. "Anyway, if you supposedly have known her for all your life then you should know that she is extremely shy and has trouble talking with people-"

"I already know that, Granger." Malfoy responded harshly.

We all approached the castle and were accompanied to our common rooms; Draco heading in the complete opposite direction than us four.

"Why was Malfoy so caring? It's not like him to care much for anyone other than himself." Asked Ron with a chuckle and a snort as we approached the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. Hermione stated the password clearly to the fat lady in the portrait with a flick of her bushy hair so that it was behind her shoulders. Harry and I both shrugged at the same time, enhancing that we didn't have the slightest clue as to why Draco was being so caring at that moment. Neither Ron or Harry cared actually, for neither of them particularly liked Draco; because he was always so rude to them both and often insulted them frequently every single day. He mocked Ron for how poor his family was and how Harry is stuck with that hideous scar of his for the rest of his life. Even Hermione got tormented by Draco and his Slytherin crew.

"I don't really care what Malfoy has to say about any of us," said Hermione, her noise held up high. "Frankly I find him rather rude, insulting and down right horrid. Not to mention spoilt."

"Tell me about it." Ron huffed.

"Right, I'm off to bed. We'll see you two later on in the morning." Hermione said through a quiet hidden yawn.

"Yeah well I think that I'll be sleeping till noon tomorrow." Ron yawned again, this time a little louder as he scratched his head lazily.

"Actually, I don't blame you." Hermione chuckled slightly. "Goodnight you two. Coming Mia?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Goodnight." I whispered as I smiled towards a very sleepy Ron and Harry before following Hermione up the stairs to our dormitory. I was shattered. I felt like I was about to flop down heavily onto the stairs and just go to sleep there, even though they looked very uncomfortable. The two of us were thrilled to see our warm cosy scarlet beds waiting for us, our pyjamas neatly folded beneath the pillow.

Quickly, I scurried across to my bed and thrust the pyjamas from under my pillow and quickly got them on.

The heating was on in the room and the bed looked so cosy that I felt like not bothering to put on my light purple and cream dotted pyjamas and just fall asleep in my robes. But I would get an earful from Hermione, saying that we shouldn't sleep in our uniforms no matter how tired or exhausted we were.

Hermione's were just a plain light pink colour with a darker raspberry shade of pink outlining the edges of the pyjamas. As soon as we were finished getting ready for bed, we both climbed into our warm, toasty beds, covering ourselves with the warm duvet. But for some annoying reason, I couldn't instantly fall asleep like I sometimes did back at home when I felt as shattered as this.

For minutes I stared out of the window that was closest to me. The stars glistened like diamonds on that black canvas, proudly gleaming its stories and glory to the world below.

I must also add that the so called 'best friend' of mine kept on popping up in my head. Every time I closed my eyes, he was there, smirking towards me in the sarcastic way he usually does to everyone. But he had some sort of sparkle in his eye whenever he smiled at me. It made me feel really uncomfortable sometimes.

I hated whenever he made a fool out of someone just to seem all tough and powerful to those in Slytherin, wanting his group to consider him as their oh so powerful leader who takes nothing from no one.

But I wasn't impressed. Not at all. Not even the slightest.


	6. Stubborn Hearts - 6

Not much happened in our first year; except for the destruction of the philosopher's stone, which was incredible might I add. Unfortunately, I was sick during that event and couldn't come along, even though I very much would've liked to. Hermione and Ron told me all about it though once they had returned.

And Harry's alright, thank goodness; I don't know what would have happened if we had lost him. Although, it was very unlikely; because in my point of view, I knew that he was going to learn a whole bundle load of magic and become a great wizard one day.

I could see Malfoy get considerably jealous whenever I choose to talk to Harry and not him. Sometimes I wish to just tell him to grow up for goodness sake!

It was now the end of our first year and we were boarding the scarlet red train, puffing white fluffy streaks of steam into the air, patiently waiting for all of the students to climb aboard. We still had plenty of time but we wanted to get there early so we can gain a compartment for all four of us before it got too crowded.

"Blimey, gone quick, hasn't it?" Said Ron as he flopped himself down onto the comfortable grey seat whilst loosening and removing his tie. Harry only loosed his and unbuttoned the top button of his white collar shirt, his hand bandaged from the incident that happened a week or so ago.

"Yeah, it has," He agreed, taking the seat next to the window. Hermione and I sat opposite the two boys; Hermione sat near the window opposite Harry and I took the seat next to her, facing Ron.

"Imagine what second year will be like?!" Ron buzzed a little excitedly, smiling a tired smile.

"Filled with more interesting magic I bet!" Hermione buzzed also, beaming. "We get to study Herbology next year with Professor Sprout!"

"Oh goody, taking care and learning about mucky plants." Mumbled Ron, frowning. Hermione tutted and rolled her eyes, chuckling.

"Honestly, Ronald, don't give it a bad name until you've finished the first educational lesson!"

"Woo," Said Ron sarcastically. Harry and I tried not to laugh at his sarcastic comment, our eye contact with each other wasn't helping either, it just made us snigger even more! Hermione sent Ron a glare so piercing that she could of frozen him on that very spot; she could do that anyway, poor Neville experienced it apparently.

A light knock sounded against the clear glass of the sliding door. All four of our heads turned to see who it was, and they didn't get a particularly good welcome.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Ron said grumpily, not in the mood to be offended at this point of the morning.

"I came to talk to Amelia, Weasley." Draco replied with a small sneer, leaning up against the glass sliding door once he had opened it casually.

"What about?"

"That's none of your business,"

"Well, she's one of my good friends,"

"And I'm her life long friend,"

"So?"

"Boys, seriously!" shouted Hermione, closing her eyes in the process. She exhaled heavily and opened them again once they both had fallen quiet. "Look, Malfoy, I'm sure that whatever you have to say to Amelia will be ok to say in front of us."

Draco frowned his dark eyebrows and paused in thought. Eventually, he shrugged it off and slipped off his arm from the glass door, standing upright and normally.

"My mother told me to tell you that you will be welcome to stay round whenever you want."

"Really? That's it?" Snorted Ron.

"Shut it, Weasley!" spat Draco, scowling harshly to the redhead with his icy eyes.

"Anyway, she's round Hermione's and mine for a week or so during the holiday so I doubt that she will have any time for you!" Ron said quickly, almost gushing his words out. Harry stayed strangely quiet for a change, as if he didn't want to get involved with this situation in our compartment. Draco's face was stoned into a frown as he turned his attention towards me, as if disgusted that I was conversing with my own house.

"Is that so?" He asked, one of his eyes almost twitching with annoyance.

"Yes," Hermione began, pointing her nose high up in the air. "That is correct. Does it bother you that she is trying to make new friends that are far better company than you? Or the fact that she might not want to even be around you anymore-"

"Shut it, _Granger_!" Growled Draco angrily, pointing his finger directly at the bushy haired girl aggressively, his teeth clenching together. "You had better watch what you say, Granger, or you'll have my father deal with this. I'll say that you've been breaking several rules at Hogwarts and have practised using curses and tried hexing me numerous of times."

"Wow, so imaginative," mumbled Ron with a slight grin, the corners of his pink lips desperately trying to prevent themselves from curling into a larger grin.

"Shut it, Weasley!"

"You're not doing very well today, Malfoy,"

"I said shut it, Weasley!" Spat Draco, his cold eyes squinting as he glared at the redhead. It was true though, he wasn't doing very well today; his insults were running dry. Only I, and possibly Hermione saw a glint of panic in his eye, knowing that he had to think of something quickly. But once he had opened his mouth, Hermione spoke over him.

"Bye." She hinted harshly, her nose pointed high in the air as she stared at him greatly. Draco's expression swam into a pool of disgust.

"I don't take orders from stupid Gryffin-"

"Calling us four stupid?" Hermione snorted smartly; then she looked at me. "Calling your supposedly 'best friend since birth' stupid?" I looked up from the ground, barely meeting Draco's eyes before swiftly manoeuvring them some place else to avoid the already thick layer of awkwardness. Draco stuttered.

"N-no, that's not what I meant-"

"So, what? Another word was meant to be spoken? Like idiotic, dumb, unintelligent, slow, unmeaning, unimportant?"

"Stop twisting my words Granger-"

"Then what? I'm sure that you meant one of those for us lower-class Gryffindors?" Hermione questioned, her voice sneer and a little whiny to add to her point. Draco frowned as he fell into a beaten silence. The four of us awaited his answer, wondering carelessly what he was due to say next.

"Shut up! I don't need to answer to you! Why am I even bothering?!" He yelled whilst flying his arms up in the air in frustration, exactly when Pansy decided to come skipping along with that vulgar 'sweet' looking face of hers. Not far behind her were the two boulder fat trolls Crabbe and Goyle; although, I didn't think that Goyle was that fat or ugly either. Yes he was a little chubbier than the typical sized eleven/twelve year old but he wasn't as bad as Crabbe; who _was _incredibly fat for a child his age. He was like an oversized hamster with a piggy face. I apologize to the animals there. It's not their fault that this boy looks like a disgusting version of them. Don't get me wrong, I love animals; just not ones where they continuously stuff their faces with things such as cake, cookies, crisps and other fatty foods.

"Drakie-poo!" She chimed cheerfully in a sickening way; way too sweet for someone like her. Draco grimaced at the way she spoke to him every single day.

"PANSY! Don't call me that!"

"Why not? I like it," She swooned, attempting to wrap her arms around the pale blonde who quickly shoved her away from him as soon as he could. Pansy pouted for a second but then shrugged it off; she didn't want to annoy Draco, although she is doing a swell job of it already. She then scanned our compartment, scowling at everyone's faces, especially mine; I received the foulest of the four glares. "What are you doing talking to this lot of filth?" Pansy emphasised the word filth with a sharp spit, which thankfully did not splatter onto any of us.

The four of us stayed silent as the four Slytherins argued and shouted individual words to add more effect to their sentences. Us Gryffindors decided that it was best for us to remain this way until left alone.

"I was finishing up," sighed Draco, running a hand over his well glued hair. His action was pointless really, it wouldn't have budged at all.

"Finished up?" questioned Pansy, with a flick of her short greasy black hair; which was also unnecessary, for it couldn't look anymore worse. Well, that's if it didn't stand on end on a boar's behind. Yet again, apologies to the boar. "What do you mean? Finally telling this little thing to bugger off and to leave you alone and that you're not at all interested in her?" She glared at me once again whilst puffing out her chest like a toad. I should really stop referring to these animals, it isn't fair on them.

"I did have something else to say but there is hardly any point now. See ya." Draco sort of waved towards me, but it was just a flick of his hand, not even that. Just me though, he didn't say goodbye to the other three. Pansy watched Draco leave the compartment with a confused look which everyone here shared. But then she swivelled round and sneered at all four of us before also leaving, skipping after Draco whilst singing that awful nickname she has for him.

Crabbe and Goyle looked at us and just shrugged before leaving also; they were alright I suppose.

Harry sighed in relief once they had gone and Ron shuffled along in his seat to close the glass door, not wanting them to come back.

"Gee, can't wait for second year." Ron mumbled, as the train clicked along the tracks which spread across the wide open fields that held onto our imaginations.


	7. Stubborn Hearts - 7

I said goodbye to my friends once we had arrived back in London, giving them each a hug. I said that I would write to each of them every week if I could and they agreed. Well, I could tell that Ron might forget, but Harry wouldn't. I knew he wouldn't due to his horrid aunt and uncle he lived with, not forgetting that awful pig of a son they call Dudley. Maybe I should recommend the idea of introducing Pansy and Dudley together.

"Promise that you'll write?" Hermione said slowly, as if trying to nail her words into my memory.

"Yes," I said quietly, only just about heard over the loud noise of voices crowded into the station.

"No need, she won't have to waste her time writing to filth like you," spat a familiar voice. There, standing alongside his mother and father was Draco, sneering at my new bushy-haired best friend. Draco's face was most similar to his father's, looks and expression. Although his mother had a warmer, more kinder look to her.

Hermione scowled, but I simply looked away from Mr Malfoy. He scared me a little.

"Now, now, Draco." Narcissa said gently, patting her son's shoulder in disapproval. "How are you, dear?" I knew that she was talking to my mother, since no one really asks how I am anymore.

"Amelia, sweetheart, you're being spoken to." My mother's words made my eyes lift up from the ground and over to the dark brown ones of Mrs Malfoy's. I blinked in surprise. _She was talking to me?_

"...I'm ok..." I managed to squeak. A mouse's squeak was like a roar of a lion compared to my own.

"Are we still on for a gathering during this summer?" She now was directing her speech to my mother, but smiled kindly at me first.

My eyes widened; mother never mentioned anything about spending time with the Malfoy's. Hermione's expression was mirrored to mine. It was filled with surprise and dread, mainly dread. Draco's on the other hand was confused and annoyed, as if ticked off that he wasn't informed about this.

"I cannot sadly," My mother sighed.

"Neither can I," Mr Malfoy said snobbishly, looking down at Hermione like she was some sort of dog mess smeared all over his brand new shoes. "Sadly I have business to tend to at the Ministry. I see that your problem is similar to my own, is it not?"

"Yes, I'm afraid." My mother nodded in agreement. It was typical of the Ministry to give out lots of work to do over the summer. I was hoping that I didn't have to spend a few days round their home whilst my mother was away. I wasn't particularly looking forward to spending the smallest amount of time with a spoilt, arrogant child who should learn to grow up. Which was rich coming from me, seeing as I am a month or so younger than Draco.

"She is coming round my house during the holidays though, isn't she, Mrs Littlewood?" Hermione said quickly, hoping that I wouldn't have to be forced to go live with the Malfoy's for the whole summer, worried that I will become like Draco. Which was ridiculous really, I would never be as rude as he is.

"I should think so Hermione," My mother smiled down at my best friend kindly.

"Don't forget that we agreed on something for someone's birthday now," Narcissa smiled with a hint in her words, stroking her son's shoulder with her thumb.

My eyes widened again, I'd completely forgot about Draco's birthday.

"Ah, yes," My mother cooed with an excited smile. Narcissa must have noticed how close Hermione and I were within the matter of minutes she's known her. Hermione and I didn't want to be separated over the summer really because we've been having such a great time together at school. "I wouldn't forget about this young man's twelfth birthday!"

"Or your Amelia's, only about a month between them, is it?"

"Yes, twenty eight days between them, July 3rd," My mother nodded.

"You can bring your friend too, Amelia, if that'll make you feel more comfortable." Narcissa cooed gently towards me, seeing that I am most relaxed when I have Hermione around me. I turned my attention towards my friend beside me, asking her for her permission. More like begged.

Hermione's eyes showed deep thought and reluctance once I looked at her, but she soon nodded in agreement to accompany me to the Malfoy's home, thankfully.

My lips mouthed silent words of thanks. Hermione smiled weakly but kindly. I could tell that she didn't really want to come, but we would be able to spend more time together and try out new spells for the upcoming second year at Hogwarts.

"That's settled then," Mr Malfoy hummed, clicking his long black, shining black cane with the silver serpent head once on the ground. "Come, Draco."

"Yes, father," Draco turned to me and Hermione with those cold eyes of his, glistening strangely. He smiled towards me the slightest but then it drooped once his eyes turned to Hermione, not showing the slightest bit of kindness towards her.

Narcissa smiled her farewell and followed her husband and son, her hand still upon Draco's shoulder. Draco soon noticed this and flicked it off from him, wanting to appear grown up, more than he actually was in our opinions.

"Great, time at the Malfoy's." Hermione huffed, a sarcastic tone was entwined amongst her words of whine.

"Thank you..." I whispered quietly, a little frightened that Hermione would get in one of her famous bossy bad moods again. Hermione shrugged.

"Well, until then, you owe me a favour, Mia."

I nodded, although I was worried about what kind of situation she would bring the favour up in; could be next week, or even years later. I guess that I'll just have to wait and see.


	8. Stubborn Hearts - 8

The time soon came, more quickly than I would have liked. It was time to go to Malfoy Manor and live there until mother returns from her enormous workload from the Ministry. I frowned my eyebrows at the word, slightly annoyed from them taking away time I could have spent with my mother. I shook my head a little, shunning away the negative thoughts inside my mind, contradicting with itself. I was wearing my dark plum dress with white tights, my shoes matching my dress colour, my hair was down and naturally curled. I had only brushed through my dark brown hair briefly, not wanting to deflate the natural waves and curls I luckily had.

"Be a good girl now won't you?" My mother hummed warmly, her soft hands resting on my shoulders as she smiled lovingly down towards me. I looked up at her and nodded silently, sadness lingering in my eyes. Mother bent down to give me one last embrace before she had to leave. "Love you loads, sweetie. I promise to bring you back some chocolate frogs?" She laughed lightly as my face beamed with sudden girlish excitement. I loved chocolate frogs, even more when you had to try and catch them before they fled from your hands. My arms swung round my mother as I returned the hug, not wanting to let go.

My luggage had already arrived before I did, probably prepared in my new room. I stood in the grand entrance, the elegant staircase curved flawlessly around both walls, dark in colour. I gazed around its amazing features, silenced in awe.

"Amelia!" I jumped drastically at the sudden shout of my name. My eyes wandered to the location and saw Narcissa and Draco walking towards me, smiles painted across their faces. Draco had an unusual bright smile upon his pale pointed face. It was strange to see him act this way, but I could feel the corner of my lips curl into a small smile in return, I was frozen on the spot. Someday I will grow out of my shyness. Goodness I hope so, I really do.

"You're finally here!" Draco chirped a little squeakily. He followed with a lowered cough, attempting to distract from his sudden outburst. The next action shocked me to the bone as Draco's thin arms wrapped around my shoulders. My cheeks burned scarlet instantly, the heat scolding them to grow a darker shade. Draco withdrew his arms and grinned at the sight of my cheeks.

"It is very nice to see you, Amelia." Narcissa greeted with a warm motherly smile. I nodded lightly and I returned the smile, my words taken from me due to the contact from the light-haired boy. "Your room has been set up for you, so no need to unpack. I'm afraid Lucius will be away too, so it'll be quieter. Not much, but still." Draco smirked a little. It was always quiet around the large manor. And dull. And boring. Apparently. "Well, I shall leave you two to it. Be careful not to hurt yourselves." She joked a little with another kind smile. Narcissa stroked her son's head briefly before gracefully walking away, the heels of her expensive shoes echoed clicks around the huge empty space. Draco and I watched her leave until she cold no longer be seen, the clicks of her heels fading into the distance.

We stood there silently, not a sound to be heard. My eyes were glued to my thumbs that uncomfortably twiddled with each other nervously. I could hear the sole of Draco's shoe being scuffed along the floor aimlessly. His shoulders were slouched and his hands tucked into fists inside of his trouser pockets, fidgeting inside of the fabric. After what seemed like hours, Draco was the one to break the silence.

"Want to...go for a walk?" My eyes snapped up and looked directly into his pale icy eyes, I was silenced again. Quickly I realised I was staring and nodded, my cheeks remaining burned. Draco paused for thought, speaking just a second later. "The gardens?"

"Ok." I whispered, nodding my head lightly again. Draco smiled in response, his eyes drifting down to the ground once more before returning to meet mine. His pale hand was held towards me, hovering in the air patiently. I blinked hard at his offering, my heart heavily beating. Cautiously, I reached my hand to meet his. Draco's fingers gently wrapped around mine, both of our hands slightly clammy. My hand twitched a little as our skin touched. Our fingertips curling around each other's with hesitation, slowly connecting.

My nervous eyes followed up the arm toward the smiling face looking back at me, his rosy lips curled.

Draco began to lead us through the manor towards the back, it was quite a walk actually. I shouldn't be surprised really, gathering the fact that this place is enormous. Soon, our feet stepped outside into the fresh air. The sky shone a bright blue as the clouds softly drifted by. Small birds tweeted their melody through the trees, gliding through the sky as their feathers were ruffled by the gentle breeze of the wind. The back gardens of the manor seemed more bright than the front, it had more colour and a cheerful character and atmosphere.

My breath was taken away from me as I gasped at the beauty the gardens held. Beautiful rose bushes of red, pink, yellow, cream, pastels of pink and orange and yellow, white roses that gleamed, even dusty lilac was dotted here and there. Water lilies bloomed inside the circular fountain that centred the whole of the gardens, several paths circled the fountain that lead onto different beautiful locations. Garden statues of figures were poised perfectly within the garden features, posing proudly as my eyes awed over their flawless creation. The pebbled path we stepped on crunched lightly beneath our feet, the grass around it healthily shone a luscious green. It was utterly breath-taking.

Draco smiled down at me contently as I was locked in a consistent gaze of amazement. Draco snapped me out of my gaze as our feet halted on the grass, his hand still gently possessing mine.

"Before you...forgot," Draco spoke softly, a hint of sadness filled his voice and even his eyes. "This was our favourite place to go and play, or sit and talk." I blinked a few times before I realised where we were. A tall green apple tree shaded us from the heat of the sun's rays that glared onto our skin, threatening to burn if we weren't careful. The tree was brimming with green apples that tempted the eye and the tongue to taste through its crunchy skin and juicy texture.

My free hand gently brushed over the rough bark of the tree, feeling the cracks over its broken engraved skin. A smile was painted over my face as I awed at the tree, it felt familiar. Draco gestured for me to sit down and I followed, settling myself comfortably down on the grass beside Draco. We both leaned against the strong tree, our hands staying connected. He sighed heavily.

"Mia?"

"Hm?" I hummed, turning my head. His eyes looked sad again, and it sent a pang to my heart, though I don't know why.

"Don't you remember anything?" I paused in thought, the rusty cogs in my brain desperately tried to get into gear. It was hard trying to remember. I really did try...

"I... I'm not sure." I spoke surprisingly normally, as if my nerves had disappeared into thin air. Even Draco looked a little surprised at my speech. "But it's familiar." His eyes never left me as I spoke, it was as if they were fascinated by my quiet voice.

"What about the things we did together? Do you remember any of that at all?" My eyes were locked into his. This was a completely different side to Draco, one I have never seen him use when at Hogwarts. He was more gentle, more calm, more...natural. He seemed more relaxed than normal and didn't put his reputation act on show. I didn't know what to say...I felt so guilty for not remembering.

I didn't break our hand's bond as my free arm began to curl around his waist slowly, I was a little scared that he would push me away. But he didn't. My arm concluded its journey and held him, cuddling him my silent apology. I could feel his warm body tense at first, but soon relaxed as his arm too wrapped itself around me, I reacted the same way but soon relaxed. All negative thoughts of Draco disintegrated at that very moment. The sound of my friend's voices were pushed to the back of my mind, all of their negative speeches and opinions of him were gone beyond my thoughts. I couldn't think of anything negative at this moment. Nothing at all...

"I hope you remember someday," Draco said quietly as he gently rested his head on top of mine, sighing sadly. "I just wish it will be sooner rather than later..."


	9. Stubborn Hearts - 9

Soon second year swirled into action, already flying by so quickly. Although my mother was reluctant to let me go back this year because of the rumours of the basilisk.

"Apparently it is targeting muggle-borns." Hermione said uneasily, slight worry in her eyes. "Colin has been attacked..."

"You'll be fine, Hermione." Ron said, trying to be helpful. I gave him a sympathetic look for Hermione's scowl.

"I doubt it, Ronald. So I am going to carry a mirror with me at all times now. Especially when I am on my own. Just in case. In the mean time, we _have _to find out information from Malfoy." This is when her brown eyes turned towards me, her lips grinning. "Amelia. You're supposedly close with Malfoy." I immediately shook my head, my cheeks reddening.

"I-I can't." I said quietly, the idea making me embarrassed. I wasn't too bad around people anymore...although I had not told my friends about being close with Draco over the holidays. Well, I told Hermione of course. She's my best friend. I would have told Harry and Ron, but they might have misunderstood.

"I thought you would say that," Hermione said, unusually smug. "That's why I have started brewing a polyjuice potion."

"A what?" Harry frowned in confusion.

"Polyjuice potion." Hermione repeated. "It's where you can transform into another for a certain amount of time. But the length to make it is...tricky."

"Why? How long would it take?" Asked Ron.

"A month."

"A month?!" All three of us echoed together, gawping.

"Yes. A month. Luckily for you, I have already started brewing the potion. All you three have to do, is retrieve the hairs."

"Hairs?" Harry questioned. Hermione nodded, continuing.

"Yes. I advise that you and Ronald achieve hairs from Crabbe and Goyle, considering they're practically everywhere Malfoy is. And Amelia, you should try and get some of Pansy's hair."

"Pansy? That snobby pug nosed girl?" Harry sneered, Ron reflected his look. Neither of them, or anyone really, liked Pansy.

"Yes. Unfortunately, the only other girl that is close with Malfoy, is Amelia. But, considering her circumstances, it would be better for her to go as someone else."

"Circumstances? What do you mean by that?" Ron said, confused.

"Well, Ronald," Hermione began. "yes she would be able to get anything out of Malfoy, because I think he likes her anyway," I blushed darkly at the thought, hoping that my hair covered my burning cheeks. "However, despite what you two say, he isn't as stupid as you make him out to be. He is clever, and would probably figure the whole plan out. This is why if Amelia takes the form of Pansy, he would most likely still tell her things and wouldn't see ahead of our plan. Considering Pansy is often all over him, it's our best bet."

"But, no offence Amelia, she's completely different from her." Ron said. He didn't want to sound mean or horrible, but he did have a point. "Pansy is loud and boisterous, where Amelia is quite shy. At first."

"This is why I hope your acting skill are top notch and up to scratch, Amelia." Hermione placed a hand upon my arm, smiling a little but hoping that I would do my research on Pansy. Luckily for her I was very good at examining people and watching how they portray themselves towards others.

"I'll give it a go." I smiled, feeling the nerves beginning to brew inside of me.

"Good." Hermione smiled in return.

When the time eventually came, all of us were nervous. That and the potion looked vile and smelt disgusting. All of us had changed into the Slytherin uniforms, making us look quite different, an unusual change from our Gryffindor ones.

"Everyone got their hairs?" Hermione asked as she scooped large portions of the potion into each glass mug, the liquid glugging and bubbling.

"Ugh! I am not drinking this!" Gagged Ron, getting a whiff of the liquid.

"Just put the hairs in, Ron." Hermione tutted, sprinkling her own into her glass. Us three followed, sprinkling the hairs we collected into the potion. "Well...bottoms up."

We all reluctantly took a mouthful of the foul potion, swallowing it with screwed up faces.

"I think I'm going to be sick!" Ron gagged, lunging forward and forcing one of the bathroom doors open, his glass shattering on the floor.

"Me too!" Hermione grimaced, also speeding into the toilet in case she was sick, dropping her glass also. My glass slipped from my fingertips, the sound of breaking glass echoing through the room, soon followed by Harry's.

My skin began to tingle and my throat felt like vomit would break through any second. The tingling grew into sharp pricks and my body began to bubble. My eyes shot towards the mirror as they shimmered panic and concern. It was then my face began to grow more pasty, my long curly brown hair shrinking, turning straighter and darker until black, the ends just managing to curl under my jaw into a bob. My nose also shrunk and shrivelled, my eyes changing colour. I grew an inch or two as well and I could feel my feet grow a little larger, luckily the shoes I was wearing fitted the new feet. The transformation was quite quick and it wasn't long before it had finished. Complete.

"Harry?" I asked, wondering around the sink to try and find him. There in front of me was Goyle. But with glasses.

"Bloody hell." We heard Ron grumble as he returned from his cubicle.

"At least it worked." I smiled slightly.

"But we still sound like ourselves." Harry said quickly.

"Oh uh... Bloody hell." Ron grumbled more than before. He then looked towards us two for approval.

"Better." We both said together, laughing a little.

"Hermione? Are you ok?" I asked, knocking lightly on the toilet door.

"U-um... Go on without me."

"Hermione, are you-?"

"Yes! Just go an find out the information we need. I'll be fine."

I knew that we wouldn't be able to change her mind so we proceeded without her. The corridors were getting darker and we were concerned that we might get caught. That's when we heard a voice yell after us.

"Hey! You three!" We halted in our steps and waited for the other footsteps to catch up with us. No guesses to who it was. "Where have you been? I've been looking for you. Why are you wearing glasses?" We all tensed a little as Ron and I looked up at the taller Harry, he had forgotten to take off his glasses. Quickly, he fumbled them off.

"Oh, uh...reading."

"Reading?" Draco questioned, Harry nodded. "I didn't know you could read." Draco's eyes then turned towards me. "You're quiet, Pans." I blinked and swallowed quietly. Great. I now had to act like Pansy.

I shrugged with a playful smirk, swaying slowly from side to side. "Just admiring the view. Drakey." I quickly added on the last bit, remembering that Pansy was a bit cringey when trying to flirt with Draco. His face screwed up a little towards me. Guess I nailed it.

I saw Harry smile a little through the corner of my eye and Ron trying not to snigger.

"Come on then, let's go to the common room. I'm bored from being out here."

We all followed Draco down towards the dungeons and into the common room. It was amazing. The colour of the lake leaked green through the windows, giving the room an eerie yet beautiful atmosphere. Stone snake heads were poised upon the dark walls. The dark leather furniture placed around the room to match.

Draco slumped onto one of the black leather armchairs, looking at us weirdly.

"Well, sit down?"

We sat down immediately, a little nervous and uncomfortable. We didn't know how much time we had left as these identities.

"I can't believe that people are seriously thinking that Potter is the heir to Slytherin." Our ears pricked up, glad that we didn't have to bring up the subject after all. "Stupid Potter. Getting all the glory just because he supposedly spoke to a snake."

"But he did." Said Ron. He earned himself a deadly glare from Draco. Quickly, he realised his mistake and tried correcting his error. "B-but he must be faking it."

"Must have read it somewhere." Harry joined in, attempting to save Ron's skin.

"Yeah," I joined in also. "He's always trying to suck up to teachers. He just wants to be the centre of attention all the time."

"Good one, Pansy." Draco laughed, agreeing with me. I glanced over at Harry and very slightly shook my head. He gave me a slight nod, he knew that I didn't mean it. I was just saying things that Draco wanted to hear.

This went on for a little while, at least twenty minutes. We gathered some information, but not the things we thought we were going to get. This is when something started to go wrong. My eyes widened a little as I looked over at Harry, Ron noticed as well.

"S-scar..." He whispered to Harry.

"Your hair!" He whispered back to Ron. The red fiery colour started to grow back upon Ron's head. His hand shot up to grab the strands. Both of them jumped up from their seats and ran up the stairs, their feet stumbling along the way.

"Where are you two going?!" Draco yelled after them, bewildered by all of the weird behaviour going on tonight. I panicked a little inside, worried about being left on my own. I quickly and subtly checked over my features. My hair was fine, so was my nose, the pasty skin...everything was still fine. For now, anyway. "What is up with those two?"

I shrugged in response. I fell quiet again. Which wasn't necessarily a good move, but I genuinely didn't know what to say.

Silence fell between us, the sound of the fire crackling was one of the only soft noises that played in the background. Draco then sighed heavily, I couldn't tell if he was then talking to himself or talking to me, or both.

"Why did she get placed in Gryffindor? None of her family were before." He muttered, frowning to himself a little. "Wish she was put in Slytherin."

I couldn't help but watch Draco from where I was sitting. I was envious of Pansy a little. She got to spend so much time with Draco and no one would find that unusual. But if I was near him, as my normal self, people would raise eyebrows and questions would be asked.

It must have been a little while since Harry and Ron fled from the scene and I didn't understand why the effects have lasted longer on me. This is where I was proven wrong.

"Pansy? What's up with your eyes? They've changed colour." Draco wasn't sat too far away from me, so of course he would have noticed.

My body tensed a little as I realised what was happening. He shuffled forward on his seat, his face not far away from mine as he examined my face. I tensed further, nervous from his face being so close to mine.

"I thought you had brown eyes?" He questioned, utterly confused. "They're...green now."

This is when I could feel my scalp begin to tingle and my previous straight bob hair grow very slowly. The straight strands started to slowly curl and lighten in colour to my brown shade. I started to panic and shot from my seat and around the sofa, beginning to run away from Draco as quickly as possible before I transformed back to my actual self.

"Hey! Wait!" Draco yelled, running after me.

I ran as fast as I could up the never ending stairs and down the corridors, I could feel my hair flick against my back as I ran, getting longer and longer. I didn't know how close Draco was behind me, plus it was pretty dark too, the only lighting being the bright silver moonlight.

I couldn't see him, but his face was utterly confused from the Pansy imposter. My height had shrunk a little and my pale skin colour returned, my eyes already changed back and my nose grew back to its previous form. Very soon, I was me again running away from Draco in a Slytherin uniform.

I mistakenly took a glance behind me to check where he was and if he saw me. He had stopped running, but was stood heavy breathing from the chasing, looking at me with a shocked expression.

Yeah...he figured it out.


End file.
